Top 20 Cringiest Moments on RuPaul's Drag Race

The “Drag Race” main stage is a place where queens are often overwhelmed with emotion, and this sometimes goes hand in hand with sharing difficult life experiences with the judges. Soju took this tradition to a different level in Season 11 when she expanded on the medical issues that were impacting her performance. After revealing a diagnosis of tendonitis, she began discussing a cyst in graphic detail. Although the judges were sympathetic and her honesty was admirable, it was, shall we say, a lot to take in. It was an awkward moment, but Soju spun into a memorable lipstick goodbye message by referring to her fellow queens as her cyst-ers.

We can all agree that Vivacious and her legendary companion Ornacia were gone too soon on “Drag Race” Season 6. From coining “Liza Minnelli, lies” to her club kid-inspired looks, Vivacious brought a whole lot of personality to the main stage. But sadly, her Werk Room entrance is remembered as one of the worst of its kind. When she stomped through the doors with her iconic headpiece, the other queens were intrigued. Unfortunately, her flubbed attempt to reveal her real face resulted in several long moments of awkward encouragement from her competitors. Reveals don’t always go as planned on “Drag Race,” and this one was no exception.

Despite floundering a lot in “All Stars 2,” you have to give Roxxxy Andrews props for her perseverance. Her comedy chops, though? Those we can’t excuse. For “Revenge Of The Queens,” the contestants were asked to pair up and perform stand-up comedy in front of the judges and a live audience filled with the bitter faces of “Drag Race” past. Left without a partner, Roxxxy was given the job of hosting, a job that unfortunately proved too difficult for her. After tripping over her opening jokes, she decided to resurrect her “Tasha Salad” character from Season Five. It was funny… for about a minute. Then all we got were embarrassingly cheesy salad puns.

By the time episode 6 of “All Stars” 3 rolled around, BenDeLaCreme was the clear frontrunner. With four top-two placements and two twins under her belt, DeLa’s wit, comedy chops, and glamorous looks were serving her extremely well. It was all the more shocking, then, for her to quit the competition after her third lip-sync win. After deciding that eliminated queen Morgan McMichaels should return, DeLa* dropped the bomb that she’d be leaving to the surprise of everyone around her. Explaining that she’d already accomplished what she’d set out to do, the perennial fan-favorite left on a personal high - but some fans took issue with her holier-than-thou tone. In any case, it goes down as one of the show’s most shockingly tense moments.

Derrick is well-known for her spot-on Britney Spears impersonation. So when it came time to prepare a talent segment for the premiere of “All Stars” 5, she decided to tackle a slew of celebrity impressions, including Celine Dion, Madonna, and Miley Cyrus. The premise of the routine was advice Derrick had received from famous friends - and although some of her voices weren’t half bad, her rapid-fire delivery left zero room for laughs. With a more thoughtful concept, a totally different rhythm, and simply more jokes, the routine might have succeeded. But the off-kilter performance landed the famous impersonator squarely in the bottom.

“Drag Race” is no stranger to a roast performance bombing because of overly mean jokes, like Naomi Smalls’s takedown of Lady Bunny in “All Stars” 4. But Utica’s performance in Season 13’s version of this often hilarious challenge takes the cake as the most brutally harsh. From comparing Ross Matthews to “The Lion King’s” Pumba and speaking to Nina West in “whale,” the routine came off as more rude than funny. And when she took aim at Loni Love’s comedy chops, it resulted in a legendary clap-back from the beloved talk show host. Utica’s roast did have its moments - like when her demand that Ru stand up was met with a series of obscene gestures. But her no-holds-barred routine was undeniably overshadowed by the judges’ own responses.

“Macbeth” is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies so it’s pretty fitting that “Macbitch” is also considered to be one of “Drag Race’s.” This reinterpretation of the “Scottish play” was performed by Kennedy Davenport’s team in the Season Seven episode, “ShakesQueer.” While Max managed to pull her team through their performance of “Romy and Juliet,” Kennedy’s team never seemed to get theirs off the ground at all. There was line fumbling, wooden acting, multiple missed cues and Pearl seemingly struggling to not bump into the scenery. A stunned Michelle and RuPaul could barely contain their horror. During Rehearsals, Ru even described it as “Drag Race’s” worst “car crash” in seven seasons.

Talk about digging yourself a hole. One of the staple questions contestants on “Drag Race” are expected to answer is: “which of your fellow contestants deserves to go home?” This drama-stirring tradition began all the way back in Season One but, to this day, no-one has given quite such a shocking answer as Shannel. By the sixth week in the competition, Shannel felt frustrated that her skill and beauty wasn’t being rewarded enough by positive critiques or challenge wins. So, when asked, she nominated herself to go home. Shannel’s diva moment became super awkward when she actually ended up in the bottom two alongside Rebecca Glasscock, and was then eliminated.

The stakes could not have been higher when the highly anticipated first episode of “All Stars 2” dropped. The first category was… “All Star Talent Show Extravaganza!” - with all ten returning queens expected to wow a live audience, the judges, and their fellow All Stars in a variety show-style performance. The brief was to bring your best talent to the main stage, so when Coco Montrese - who is not known for her dance skills on the show - revealed hers was going to be a dance routine, painted eyebrows were raised. Coco admitted she knew it was a risky choice. Embarrassingly, that risk didn’t pay off. Though she looked the part, her vintage Hollywood number fell flat.

Laganja’s over-the-top personality definitely made for some iconic moments on “Drag Race,” but when faced with delivering a comedy performance, she stumbled hard. Unlike some of her other, more successful competitors, Laganja didn’t take into account her elderly audience and devoted most of her cannabis-infused set to her favorite plant. And while poking fun at the crowd was a smart idea that helped others stand out, Laganja roasting them for their physical traits was less than wise. Her relentlessly upbeat personality amidst the disapproving crowd’s boos made this one of the show’s most painfully awkward outings and resulted in her elimination.

Jasmine always has “something to say,” and she’s been a beloved internet presence since her “Drag Race” debut on Season 7. But she struggled to translate her legendary online humor to the main stage in the “All Stars” 4 premiere when she debuted a downright shoddy stand-up show. While some queens are plagued by nerves in comedy challenges, Jasmine was perfectly at ease - but her potty-mounted story about a bad date simply missed the mark. The routine may have been edited for length, but what we did get to see was one-note and practically devoid of jokes. This thoroughly uncomfortable performance resulted in Jasmine’s anticipated “All Stars” run ending in the first episode.

It’s no secret that “Drag Race” loves to pay homage to female music icons. But this Season 11 challenge, which had the queens host an evangelical talk show dedicated to a legendary singer, did not do Mariah Carey justice. While the Britney Spears team was hilarious, Mimi’s group simply didn’t know enough about her to carry the skit. They fumbled the name of her movie “Glitter” and their conversion segment featured Plastique Tiara making a truly strange voice at the mention of Ariana Grande. But perhaps the worst part of the challenge was Honey Davenport and Ra’Jah O’Hara’s poorly rehearsed musical performance. Ru was so disappointed that all six team members shockingly ended up lip-syncing.

In Season 3 of “All Stars,” fan-favorite Trixie Mattel had a lot to prove, and even admitted to wanting to live up to her fame outside of “Drag Race.” Meanwhile, Milk’s overconfidence plagued her second outing on the show, with her backstage meltdown over being “safe” standing out as particularly cringe-worthy. In this improv challenge that spoofed “The Bachelor,” Milk’s attempts to upstage Trixie resulted in an irritatingly over-the-top riff on a stalker stereotype. While the character could have been funny, Milk’s attempt at non-stop dialogue resulted in Trixie being interrupted numerous times. From her obnoxious laugh to sniffing Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman’s hair, Milk pulled out one too many stops and made her co-star visibly annoyed.

From her kooky and convoluted intro line, Joslyn’s performance in this “Drag Queens of Talk” interview challenge was rocky. Her sitdown with Georgia Holt and Chaz Bono came to a screeching halt as she matter-of-factly asked about Cher’s mom’s stance on abortion. While Joslyn felt she had nailed the challenge, her guests were visibly uncomfortable and revealed to the cameras afterward that they’d been shocked by the line of questioning. Thankfully, Joslyn got an opportunity to express her regret on the main stage and Georgia accepted her apology. But while it lasted, this was one of the most awkward moments the show had ever seen.

In Season 4’s “Frock the Vote” challenge, the queens were tasked with developing a character and political platform for a mock debate. It’s a challenge that has gone on to produce some scene-stealing moments, but this wasn’t one of them. Phi Phi decided to play a racist and dim-witted politician and took things way too far. When asked by guest judge Dan Savage who she’d make her running mate, she had some derogatory words for Dida Ritz and Latrice Royale. It was painfully unfunny and painfully offensive, but Latrice clapped back with a remark so brutal it had Chad Michaels breaking character. Phi Phi evaded the bottom while Latrice had to lip-sync - but if you ask us, it should have been the other way around.

The higher you get, the further you fall. In “All Stars 2,” former Season Five contestant Alaska slayed the competition every week… until the semi-final came along. The challenge for the episode was for each queen to give a female member of their family a drag makeover and then “vogue the house down” on the runway. Though confident she’d pulled off another win, the judges critiqued Alaska for not putting enough effort into mother “Hawaii’s” look. After finding herself at the bottom for the first time, Alaska threw what can best be described as a tantrum; even desperately offering a $10,000 bribe to top two contestant, Detox, to save her. Not a cute look.

There are two cardinal rules to follow when interacting with Mama Ru on “Drag Race:” One, always make her laugh during Snatch Game, and two, never talk back to her. In the the fifth episode os season seven, Ru dropped by to give Pearl and Max some advice while they prepared jokes for the “DESPY Awards” challenge. After Ru gave Pearl a note about working on her personality, Pearl took offence to the implication that she didn’t have one. Ru attempted to clarify that her criticism was meant as encouragement but Pearl argued it had the opposite effect, leading to this excruciating stand-off between the two.

This legendary performance marked the first finale challenge in which queens had to write and perform lyrics for a remix of a RuPaul song. Roxxxy Andrews had the unfortunate fate of following up Katya, Alaska, and Detox, who all nailed the song’s sassy and sexy attitude. Her underwhelming opening line has since become a popular saying in the fandom, but that’s about all this lackluster performance has to offer. When it came to the breakdown and her voice took on some oddly breathy distortion, it was clear that she wasn’t taking home the win. The number lives on as a “Drag Race” favorite, but its overall entertainment value didn’t save Roxxxy from elimination.

Roxxy Andrews wasn’t the only one whose comedy routine failed to impress in “All Stars 2.” Phi Phi O’Hara and Coco Montrese were partnered up for the stand-up comedy challenge in “Revenge Of The Queens.” Rather than stick to a conventional stand-up format, the pair chose to do more of a “Saturday Night Live”-esque character study, which Katya hilariously described as an: Though Coco’s self-deprecating joke about using “cheesy chips” to do Phi Phi’s make-up was worthy of a chuckle, the whole skit felt out of place and was very uncomfortable to watch. To top it all, Phi Phi also failed to leave the show gracefully by rejecting Alyssa’s consolation hug.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.

Brita’s Spit-Take, Season 12
This Queen Sprayed A Bedridden Aiden Zhane In “Gay’s Anatomy”

Blair St. Clair, The Vixen, and Miz Cracker’s Drag Con Hair Panel, Season 10
The Panelists Were Catty And Ill-Prepared In This Bombed Challenge

Willam Narrowly Avoids Vomiting On The Runway, Season 4
The Fan-Favorite Got Sick Minutes Before Her Shocking Disqualification

In Season 9, the remaining eight queens were tasked with a daunting challenge: to roast the most judgmental of all “Drag Race” judges, Michelle Visage. While some queens struck comedy gold, two routines were so rocky that we just couldn’t pick between them. Despite coming off as a sweetheart, Farrah Moan decided to go for the jugular with some insult comedy. Unfortunately, she forgot about the comedy part, and the audience forgot how to laugh. Expectations were higher for Alexis Michelle, whose visual gag concerning Michelle Visage’s least favorite color green immediately flopped. Alexis only made matters worse when she later defended her choice to Tamar Braxton. Between that and the offensive slurs, it was nothing but crickets from the audience. Unsurprisingly, she and Farrah ended up lip-syncing.